Concrete Form Panel

ABSTRACT

A construction form board having a first surface, a second surface and a core layer having a thickness therebetween. The first surface, the second surface and the core layer constructed from a polymer, such as polypropylene. The core layer having a plurality of continuous cavities in a longitudinal direction.

REFERENCE TO PENDING APPLICATIONS

This application does not claim the benefit of any pending application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally directed toward a concrete form panel, more specifically toward a concrete form panel made from a polymer for use in the construction industry.

Description of the Related Art

Concrete (reinforced with rebar) is used to create supports, or slab, for buildings. As used herein, a concrete support or slab, may be a foundation, footing, wall or other structural element of a building.

Forms, or molding, are used to provide a container for the liquid concrete and hold the concreate in place until the concrete can support its own weight after it has hardened and dried.

As used herein, a form can be any type of form used in the construction of a building, including foundation and footing forms, along with wall forms, and may be a panel or sheath type of form.

Prior art forms usually are made from wood and are include an inner wall and an outer wall that define the shape of the support. A gap, or cavity, is created between the inner and out walls. Within the gap, a series of steel bars, often referred to as rebar, are placed in order to provide structural support to the concrete. Concrete, in a liquid state, is poured into the gap. After the concreate has set, or hardened and dried, the wood forms are pulled away from the concrete.

The use of wood as a form material has disadvantages. To prevent the concrete from sticking to the wood forms, the wood forms are usually coated with a bond breaker, such as oil, prior to the pouring of the concrete. Care has to be maintained not to have any oil be placed on the rebar, as such oil will prevent the rebar from attaching to the concrete. This can use a structural failure and is against many building codes.

Further, wood can become deformed or damages resulting in a relatively short lifespan.

Clearly, there is a need for a construction form panel that addresses these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a concrete form panel is disclosed. The concrete, or construction, form board or panel may include a first surface, a second surface and a core layer having a thickness therebetween. The first surface, the second surface and the core layer constructed from a polymer, such as polypropylene. Further, the core layer may have a plurality of continuous cavities in a longitudinal direction.

In some aspects, the polymer may have various characteristics including a bending strength value of equal or greater to 30 MPa, a bending modulus value of equal or greater to 3000 MPa, along with a lateral and/or longitudinal dimensional shrinkage value of plus/minus 0.2 percent.

In some aspects, a construction form system having a plurality of construction form boards as disclosed herein is disclosed. The plurality of construction form boards may be used to create a construction form for use in the construction of a concrete slab.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out in the specification. The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read in conjunction with both this summary, the detailed description and any preferred and/or particular embodiments specifically discussed or otherwise disclosed. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of illustration only and so that this disclosure will be thorough, complete and will fully convey the full scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be describe with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a form panel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional front view of an embodiment of a form panel of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a form panel of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, various embodiments will be described. For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.

Embodiments herein are directed to a concrete form panel created from a polymer, such as polypropylene, for use in the construction industry during the creation of concrete slabs.

Referring now to the drawings in which like-referenced numerals and/or names may refer to like elements, FIGS. 1-3 illustrates an embodiment of a concrete form panel 10 of the present invention. The panel 10 includes a first surface 20, a second surface 22 and a core layer 30 having a length 25, a width 27 and a thickness 26. The panel 10 may be extruded from a polymer material, such as polypropylene.

The first surface 20 and the second surface 22 disclosed as being parallel and flat, and in a rectangular configuration having edges 12, 14, 16, 18. This is illustrative and not meant of be limiting.

The core layer 30 may also contain one or more hollow chambers 24, which may extend parallel to each other in a straight line through the core layer 30. In some embodiments, the hollow chambers can be subdivided by partitions 32.

The shape of the panel 10 may be based on the requirements of the intended use. For example, the panel's dimensions may be 4×8 foot and having a ¾ inch thickness. For example, the panel 10 may be bent or curved depending on the intended use thereof.

The panel may be constructed from a polymer, such as polypropylene. In some embodiments the polypropylene may include certain characteristics. These characteristics may include the bending strength, bending modulus, lateral and/or longitudinal dimensional shrinkage of the polypropylene. For example, the polypropylene may require a bending strength value of equal or greater to 30 Mpa, a bending modulus value of equal or greater to 3000 Mpa, a lateral dimensional shrinkage value of plus/minus 0.2 percent and/or a longitudinal dimensional shrinkage value of plus/minus 0.2 percent.

In operation, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a method of construction 100 using panel 10 is disclosed. In step 110, an outer wall of a construction form is constructed using one or more panels 10. The outer wall may be constructed by securing one or more panels 10 to securing posts, such as stakes or dimensional lumber. The panels 10 may be secured by any suitable fastener, such a nails or screws.

In step 120, an inner wall is constructed using one or more panels 10 using similar construction techniques as with the outer wall. The outer and inner walls are spaced apart creating a gap, or cavity, and are provided lateral supports. As with the creation of a concreate slab, liquid concrete is then poured into the gap.

Once the liquid concrete has sufficiently hardened, the outer and inner walls are removed. Due to the smooth first and second surfaces 20, 22, the panels easily are removed from the concrete. The panels 10 are then available for use with another form.

The use of a polymer-based panel has various advantages over a wood-based panel. The polymer panel is fully recyclable unlike traditional plywood and not need any releasing agent, or bond breaker, such as oil, when removing from cured concrete surface. The polymer panel is fully water proof, acid/corrosion resistant and more durable that a wood-based panel. Still further, the polymer-based panel is stronger and less likely to deform, allowing the panel to have a higher reusability rate then a wood-based panel.

The panel 10 has been disclosed as being used in the creation of concrete forms for use with the creation of concrete slabs. This is not meant to be limiting. Panel 10 may also be used as an alternative to other wood-based construction support, such as but not limited to wood framing.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the claims.

Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure. Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. The term “connected” is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

All references, including publications, patent applications and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein. 

I claim:
 1. A construction form board comprising: a first surface, a second surface and a core layer having a length, a width and a thickness, the first surface, the second surface and the core layer constructed from a polymer, the core layer having a plurality of continuous cavities in a longitudinal direction.
 2. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the polymer is polypropylene.
 3. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the polymer has a bending strength value of equal or greater to 30 MPa.
 4. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the polymer has a bending modulus value of equal or greater to 3000 MPa.
 5. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the polymer has a lateral dimensional shrinkage value of plus/minus 0.2 percent.
 6. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the polymer has a longitudinal dimensional shrinkage value of plus/minus 0.2 percent.
 7. The construction form board of claim 1, wherein the width of the core layer is four feet, the length of the core layer is eight feet and the thickness of three-fourths inch.
 8. A construction form system comprising: a plurality of construction form boards, each of the plurality of construction form boards a first surface, a second surface and a core layer having a thickness therebetween, the first surface, the second surface and the core layer constructed from a polymer, the core layer having a plurality of continuous cavities in a longitudinal direction, wherein the plurality of construction form boards are used to create a construction form for use in the construction of a concrete slab. 